GPS
User Segment: Aviation
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The user segment includes the
equipment of the military personnel and civilians
who receive GPS signals. Military GPS user equipment
has been integrated into fighters, bombers, tankers,
helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, jeeps, and
soldiers' equipment. In addition to basic navigation
activities, military applications of GPS include target
designation, close air support, "smart"
weapons, and rendezvous.
With more than 500,000 GPS receivers,
the civilian community has its own large and diverse
user segment. Surveyors use GPS to save time over
standard survey methods. GPS is used by aircraft and
ships for enroute navigation and for airport or harbor
approaches. GPS tracking systems are used to route
and monitor delivery vans and emergency vehicles.
In a method called precision farming, GPS is used
to monitor and control the application of agricultural
fertilizer and pesticides. GPS is available as an
in-car navigation aid and is used by hikers and hunters.
GPS is also used on the Space Shuttle. Because the
GPS user does not need to communicate with the satellite,
GPS can serve an unlimited number of users.
The aviation community is using
GPS extensively. Aviation navigators, equipped with
GPS receivers, use satellites as precise reference
points to trilaterate the aircraft's position anywhere
on or near the earth. GPS is already providing benefits
to aviation users, but relative to its potential,
these benefits are just the beginning. The foreseen
contributions of GPS to aviation promise to be revolutionary.
With air travel nearly doubled in the 21st Century,
GPS can provide a cornerstone of the future air traffic
management (ATM) system that will maintain high levels
of safety, while reducing delays and increasing airway
capacity. To promote this future ATM system, the FAA's
objective is to establish and maintain a satellite-based
navigation capability for all phases of flight.
Satellite navigation is being
widely used by aviators throughout the world to overcome
many of the deficiencies in today's air traffic infrastructure.
With its accurate, continuous, all-weather, three
(GPS only) and four (GPS with augmentations) dimensional
coverage, satellite navigation offers an initial navigation
service that satisfies many of the requirements of
users worldwide. Unlike current ground-based equipment,
satellite navigation permits accurate aircraft position
determination anywhere on or near the surface of the
earth.
More specifically, an aggressive
exploitation of satellite navigation technologies
provides substantial benefits to both the providers
of such services in the region, as well as the individual
and combined user communities. The implementation
of this technology in a country or region provides
the following benefits to aviation transportation:
- Enhanced safety of flight
throughout the region
- Seamless navigation service
based on a standardized navigation service and common
avionics
- More efficient, optimized,
flexible, and user-preferred route structures
- Increased system capacity
- Reduced separation minimums
resulting in increased capacity and capabilities
- Significant savings from shortened
flight times and reduced fuel consumption
- Reduced costs to each individual
State while increasing overall benefits to individual
States and the entire region
- Further economies from reduced
maintenance and operation of unnecessary ground-based
systems
- Improved ground and cockpit
situational awareness
- Increased landing capacity
for aircraft and helicopters
Additionally, the implementation
of this technology adds a margin of safety to operations
within the expected coverage area by providing four-dimensional
positioning, as opposed to the two-dimensional positioning
of traditional systems. This reduces accidents by
providing a consistent navigation capability that
does not change, regardless of location, replacing
major portions of current ground-based navigation
infrastructures, and simplifying avionics suites.
It also offers a precision approach capability at
any airport within that region. All aircraft equipped
with certified GPS/WAAS receivers have the needed
accuracy, integrity, and availability for them to
use GPS as a primary navigation aid, and thus experience
the benefits of seamless travel.
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